Betty Boo – Hangover
It’s fair to say that in 1993 there weren’t many people clamouring for a Betty Boo country single. Less charitable folk would say there weren’t many people clamouring for a Betty Boo single at all, but that is unduly harsh.
Betty – though she has since had the last laugh penning many a hit for others – was an early victim of what I like to call Duffy syndrome, the symptoms of which include a successful first album, a few gigantic hits and then overwhelming public indifference to anything else that comes after. Yet for a while she was hanging out with Madonna, was signed by Seymour Stein for a big American launch and was happy to tell The Independent about her showbiz mates. “I’ve met Rick Astley a few times. He sat on our table at the Brits.”
Yes, it was all a case of too much too soon for Betty. By the time the second album campaign got underway the demands of record company expectations were directly at odds with public appetite. So when lovely first single Let Me Take You There stalled at no.12 and the equally good I’m On My Way fizzled out at no.44, there was virtually no hope for Hangover, and so it proved to be. Despite airing on The Chart Show and having an ace CD single featuring a story book insert (I still have this) it got no higher than no.50. Let’s remind ourselves of its wistful brilliance:
There isn’t enough slide guitar in pop these days. And the way she sings “Ooh – do do do do do do – ooh” towards the end is just gorgeous, isn’t it? Extraordinary video too, in which Betty is singing a song about betrayal whilst making a video for a song about betrayal whilst being betrayed by the male star of the video. How very meta. It’s a little sad at the end where she rides off into the sunset because the sun was literally setting on Betty’s stardom.
I would have loved Betty Boo to have been able to fulfil her amazing pop star potential, but had things gone to plan we might never have had Pure and Simple by Hear’say so I suppose we must be careful what we wish for.
Entered chart: 08/08/1992
Chart peak: 50
Weeks on chart: 3
Who could sing this today and make it a hit? Taylor Swift featuring Iggy Azalea.
Who’s number one today?
Into the Popvoid on Spotify
We sort of won something
Into the Popvoid 
My grand unifying theory on Betty Boo is that the public couldn’t cope with the between-albums upgrade from Betty v1.0 (fun-loving girl-next-door/big-sister) to Betty v2.0 (sultry supermodel). She obviously had the last laugh as a songwriter, but it’s a shame, I really thought she was in it for the long haul at the time…
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You, me and Seymour Stein…
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I think the turning point, tragically downwards, well at least in aust, was when she dropped the mic whilst miming to a song due to her being unwell. A shame really, but like others have commented on, at least she’s made some money writing for others.
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